I have a collection of quotes that I keep. They can be a sentence or a few paragraphs that strike me. They are usually better articulations of ideas that have been kicking around in my mind for a while.

The other day I wrote the simplest of sentences that set off all sorts of resonance within me.

We are a community and each of us contributes to that.

We talk so often about the dance scene and dance community. We talk about the things we appreciate. We talk about the things we want from it. We talk about the things that we wish we could change. Yet each of us individually contributes to our dance scene. In every house party you don’t break things at, in every newbie you are friendly to, in every time you open your houses to weary travelers from out of town either for events or when they are just passing through you (and I) contribute to the tone of our scene. It goes the other way too. Every time you criticize someone for not doing just as you do, in every time you take a surly tone declining a dance, in every time you allow a boundary to be crossed you are also contributing to the tone of our scene.

I’ve also been thinking about what dancers who have been around longer owe to those who are new. I know that I look to those around me and model my behavior off of theirs. Now I hope that when people look at me, I am demonstrating behaviors to truly be aspired to.